


If There’s a Will There’s a Wave

by Imori_Hikaru



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Olympics, Alternate Universe - Swimming, Hijinks & Shenanigans, M/M, Olympics, Swimming, kind of chaotic, vine references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-09
Updated: 2020-08-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:27:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25805830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imori_Hikaru/pseuds/Imori_Hikaru
Summary: The Olympic village got a whole lot more chaotic the moment the Japanese national swim team moved in. They’re loud, rambunctious, and there are always shenanigans going on when this team is involved. It’s hard to believe they’re the same team who presents themselves with the utmost determination and seriousness once they hit the pool.
Relationships: Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Tsukishima Kei/Yamaguchi Tadashi
Comments: 2
Kudos: 30
Collections: Haikyuu Olympics Bang





	If There’s a Will There’s a Wave

**FRIDAY**

**Day’s Events: none**

***

"Wake up, fuckers! It's time for some team bonding!" Tanaka burst through the door to Tsukishima and Yamaguchi's room, the door banging loudly against the wall as he shouted. Noya was hot on his heels, grinning, ready to see Tsukishima’s reaction to the wakeup call.

"Jesus, Tanaka, wake them up like a normal person," Sugawara started, just reaching the edge of the doorway behind them. Tanaka and Noya burst out laughing, turning quickly and forcing Sugawara back as they shuffled themselves and the bewildered Suga down the hallway.

Tsukishima glared at the door; it wasn't quite closed. Noya did a piss poor job of pulling it shut in his attempt to make a quick escape. Yamaguchi was blinking blearily up at Tsukishima, still wrapped in his arms. Tsukishima sighed and tightened his grip on Yamaguchi.

"We need to get up."

"Don't wanna..." Yamaguchi mumbled, burrowing his face into Tsukishima's thin yet firm and muscled chest. Tsukishima ran a hand through Yamaguchi's rumpled hair. He still wasn’t quite used to the undercut yet. He kind of missed Yamaguchi's long hair.

"They're going to come back if we don't get up." Tsukishima didn't want to get up either, but he knew this team. And they were annoying and persistent. He'd at least like to have some pants on when they came back.

"What are you doing?" Sugawara asked frantically. Allowing Tanaka and Noya to guide him down into the lounge that sat in the center of the team's rooms in the village.

"Dude," Noya was laughing so hard he clearly couldn't explain. Tanaka wasn't much better off but tried anyway.

"I'm pretty sure Tsukishima is going to kill us." Sugawara was following so far, he'd kill someone over that kind of wake-up call, too. "He had Yamaguchi all bundled up against him--"

"He had what?" Sugawara asked, his eyes bugging out. Tanaka fell into another fit of laughter and Noya jumped in.

"How do two guys that big even fit on a twin sized mattress?" He wiped away a tear that escaped. "Oh, man."

"They were asleep. Together? As in, sharing a bed?" Sugawara asked for confirmation.

"Uh-huh." Tanaka grinned as his head bobbed up and down. "From what I could tell, there was also a lack of clothing between the two."

"That's why you should always knock," Daichi deadpanned from the table. Suga, Tanaka, and Noya's heads all whipped around to him. They hadn't even noticed him sitting there. He was looking at them over the rim of his coffee mug, frowning in disapproval. His eyes lingered on Sugawara for a moment before Sugawara coughed and looked away, unable to hold eye contact as the heat blossomed over his cheeks.

"Did you know they were a thing?" Nishinoya asked curiously. Daichi raised a brow.

"Why would I know that? Does it matter?" He paused to take a sip of coffee. "And you don't actually know that they're together."

"Oh, they're totally together." Hinata chirped as he bounced into the room with far too much energy for this early in the morning, though that seemed to be a common denominator between the men's Japanese swimming team. Everyone turned to look at the new arrival, and Kageyama who was just a few steps behind seemed uninterested in the conversation.

"And you know this how?" Suga prompted, despite the look Daichi gave him for asking.

"It's pretty obvious. I mean, if you pay attention, they are pretty touchy feely. And they live together."

"Living together doesn't mean they are in a relationship." Daichi pointed out. Kageyama scoffed as he retrieved a carton of milk from the fridge.

"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure sucking each other's faces makes it a pretty high likelihood." Daichi promptly spit out the mouthful of coffee he'd just taken. Sugawara choked on air and Tanaka and Noya whooped loudly.

"Please shut up." Ennoshita mumbled, his feet shuffling as he joined them. "And would it kill you to use a glass? The rest of us drink that, too." He said towards Kageyama, who was drinking straight from the carton, oblivious to the chaos he'd unleashed with the bomb he dropped on the team.

Kageyama finally stopped gulping down the milk and tossed the now empty carton in the general direction of the trashcan. It bounced on the rim and barely managed to sink into the can. He shrugged and moved to sit on the couch. Ennoshita rolled his eyes. It was too early to deal with these guys.

"Are they awake?" Daichi asked, his patience wearing thin.

"Uh," Tanaka glanced at Noya, who shrugged. "Tsukishima definitely woke up. I don't know if he stayed up and got Yamaguchi up or not though." Ennoshita took stock of the bodies in the room.

"What about Asahi?" Noya shot him a thumbs up.

"He's in the shower."

"Why?" Tanaka asked. "We're literally going to be in the pool in a few hours anyway."

"Are we practicing today?" Hinata questioned from where he was now perched on the arm of the couch beside Kageyama. "I thought Coach gave us strict instructions to rest today."

"Do you ever rest?" Tsukishima quipped as he finally made his appearance, a still very tired looking Yamaguchi lagging behind him.

"I rest all the time!" Hinata countered, though everyone in the room knew that was bullshit. He and Kageyama never stopped. They were monsters.

"G'morning." Yamaguchi murmured as he worked his way through the room to get to the kitchen where he grabbed a bottle of orange juice from the fridge. Everyone's eyes followed him and the moment he noticed the attention he started to get fidgety and looked to Tsukishima. Tsukishima just shook his head as if telling Yamaguchi to ignore it.

Asahi looked between his teammates and the lady who was looking at him expectantly.

“I think I’m actually good, guys--”

“Nope, get your butt on the table,” Noya pointed sternly.

“But I was just going to shave--”

“You know you’re the only one on the team who shaves instead of waxing?” Tanaka asked.

“So? What does that matter?” Asahi looked pale. Sugawara hit him in the chest, a bit too hard, making him cough lightly.

“Come on, big guy. You can do it. I’m getting done today too.” Suga smiled as he ripped off his shirt. Asahi looked back at the room, which was set up with a few tables and equipment. There were stations set up with employees by them. He looked at the teammates that had joined him, Noya, and Tanaka for this “team bonding” session. Suga, who was already stripping and getting ready to flop onto one of the tables, a still tired looking Yamaguchi, and Daichi. Six of them, and five stations.

“Who all is getting waxed?” Asahi asked, partially because he was actually curious, but also he was stalling for time.

“Oh, I got done yesterday,” Tanaka replied, “but I’m here to watch--” Daichi smacked him on the back of his head. “I mean, for moral support,” he tried with a grin.

“You’ll be fine, Asahi,” Daichi pat him on the back as he wandered over to the table beside Suga’s. Suga was already laying back with his hands behind his head, hot wax being spread over his legs.

Asahi bit his lip as he stiffly walked over to get the hair violently ripped from his body. Sugawara, Noya, and Yamaguchi didn’t seem all that hairy to begin with. They just needed their legs and armpits waxed. Daichi had a small patch of hair on his chest, which Asahi had been eyeing nervously while wax was applied to it and it was ripped away.

Asahi mistakenly thought it wouldn’t be as bad since his teammates took it like champs. Yamaguchi did seem to wake up finally after the first strip was ripped off his leg, but other than that they hardly flinched. It was terrible, and Asahi wanted to cry. It didn’t help that he had the most body hair. A horrible experience in his mind, but Noya and Tanaka seemed to love his suffering.

***

**SATURDAY**

**Day’s Events:**

**400m free style heats + semifinals – Tanaka**

**100m breaststroke heats + semifinals – Hinata and Tsukishima**

***

Tanaka was bouncing around the kitchen, munching on a banana. He claimed he wasn't nervous. He was excited. Okay, he was both nervous and excited, but he wasn't about to tell his teammates that. First up was the men's 400-meter freestyle. He was the only one competing for Japan. He wanted to do well to set the tone for the team. Start them off strong.

"You ready?" Noya asked, snagging his own banana from the bunch on the counter. He didn't have any events today, but he planned to watch the two they had teammates competing in. He was going to drag Asahi along at the very least, but he was confident that most of the team would want to be there. They were all pretty close.

"Of course," Tanaka flexed. "I'll be bringing home the gold." Tanaka shoved Noya playfully when Noya laughed. He wasn't joking though. The goal was to take gold. He was competing against the best and wanted to beat the best.

In the end the whole team did end up tagging along to support Tanaka. Things were winding down as the heats continued on. Hinata and Tsukishima had to head out just before the semifinal began in order to get ready for their own event. Tanaka did well, matching pace with his usual average, but unfortunately it wasn't enough. He didn't manage to advance past the semifinals. He was pissed. He wanted to set the tone by making it into the finals, but he couldn't quite pull it off.

The team still thought he did great. They weren't discouraged to see him get edged out of the finals. It just went to show how strong the other athletes were. It was exciting. Noya had been the one to snap Tanaka out of his gloomy post-loss state by reminding him he still had several events to win. Alone and with the team.

***

**SUNDAY**

**Day’s Events:**

**200m free style heats + semifinals – Tanaka and Ennoshita**

**100m backstroke heats + semifinals – Noya**

**100m breaststroke finals – Hinata and Tsukishima**

**4 x 100m free relay heats + finals – Asahi, Kageyama, Noya, and Daichi**

***

"Why such a serious face?" Tsukishima asked, looking down his nose at Hinata as he adjusted his swim cap. A blonde curl was being awfully stubborn about staying tucked inside of it. "You're not nervous, are you?"

"What?" Hinata smiled up at Tsukishima. "Why would I be nervous? I'm excited." It didn't seem like he was lying. Tsukishima stared at him for a long moment before breaking their eye contact to step up onto the platforms. Hinata pulled his goggles down, moving his body to prepare to dive into the water. "Good luck."

"You too," Tsukishima replied softly. He crouched down, tips of his fingers touching the platform below him.

On cue, they dove into the water. It was a tight race. Hinata and Tsukishima stayed on par with one another for their laps. Hinata had just managed to take the lead and finish fractions of a second before Tsukishima, landing him on the podium. Tsukishima scoffed, but he didn't look upset. Fourth place wasn't bad. Hell, fourth place was great considering who he was up against. It wasn't enough to get a medal, but Tsukishima had another shot to earn one.

***

Asahi sucked in a deep breath, a hand on his chest. Daichi picked up on his anxiety.

“You’ll do fine.” Asahi flinched.

“I just don’t want to slow us down,” Asahi admitted. He was always anxious before an event. Despite knowing he was a good swimmer.

“What would Suga say if he heard that negativity?” Daichi teased. Asahi made a face.

“He’d punch me, for one.” Daichi laughed.

“Would it make you feel better if I punch you? I might hit harder than Suga does.” Daichi smiled, holding up his fist. Asahi shook his head, cracking a smile as he put a hand over Daichi’s.

“He’s stronger than he looks,” Asahi said seriously. Suga hit hard. Daichi laughed again, a fond look in his eyes.

“I couldn’t agree more.”

Noya had a good start. He wasn’t in the lead by the end of his turn, but Kageyama more than made up for it. Kageyama got them a solid lead before Asahi was tapped in. He maintained the lead. He hit the wall and watched as Daichi dove into the water. It was up to Daichi now. Normally, the fastest would be the final swimmer, but for some reason they had Kageyama swim second. Daichi was good though. Asahi had no worries about Daichi being able to handle the pressure of finishing off the relay.

Half a second. Half a second separated gold from silver. Daichi yanked off his goggles to look up at the board. He beamed as he turned to his team. Asahi offered a hand to help him out of the pool. They did it. They were bringing home the gold.

***

**MONDAY**

**Day’s Events:**

**200m free style finals – Tanaka and Ennoshita**

**100m backstroke finals – Noya**

**200m butterfly heats + semifinals – Kageyama and Sugawara**

***

“Damn it.” Ennoshita smiled at Tanaka, shaking his head. “I was hoping to beat you.” Tanaka laughed.

“You were close.”

“Uh,” Ennoshita looked up at their times. “No, not really.” He laughed and hugged Tanaka. “Congrats man.” Tanaka hugged him back tightly. He may or may not have been trembling slightly, but Ennoshita would neither confirm nor deny this fact.

Tanaka had made it to the podium in the bronze medal position. Ennoshita missed the podium, but he was proud of Tanaka. Tanaka worked hard. He deserved this, but Ennoshita would give him a run for his money next time.

*******

Noya was often the shortest in the lineup, and competitors usually saw that as a disadvantage. He had to work harder to clear the same distance as someone who was taller, but that’s what made him much more terrifying. He was smaller, but he was fast. Fast enough to make up for what he lacked in height. His teammates often wondered how much faster his times would be if he did have that extra height.

He breezed through the heats and semifinals yesterday, and the finals were much the same. He hit the wall a few seconds before his competitors. A clear win for Noya. He grinned brightly from the top of the podium, wearing his gold medal with pride. He cheesed it up for the cameras and his teammates out in the crowd.

Once the media had their fill of photos of the medalists, Noya was off. The first thing he did once he stepped off that podium was run for the pool. In he went clothes, medal, and all. He let out a yell of victory as he took his celebratory dip in the pool.

***

Sugawara panted, his palm against the tiled wall of the pool. He'd swam hard, but it wasn't enough. He didn't need to look up at the board to see he'd been knocked out of the running for the 200m butterfly event. He slowly reached up and yanked off his swim cap and goggles.

There were cheers all around, but Sugawara felt like he was still underwater. He couldn't really hear them. He clambered out of the pool and finally looked up to the board. It of course confirmed that he wasn't going past the heats. He wouldn't be moving onto the semifinals.

He congratulated an excited swimmer who bumped into him, but it was hollow. Not that the pumped up athlete noticed. Suga made his way to the locker rooms to shower.

He made eye contact with Kageyama, who was about to head for the pool, taking part in the next heat. Kageyama looked like he might want to say something, but he didn't. He just nodded and let Sugawara be.

Sugawara shuffled to the locker he'd stashed his stuff in, digging out a towel and shampoo before making his way to the showers. He turned the hot water on, letting the scalding water seep into his skin as he stood there for a long while. He closed his eyes, leaning back against the wall, and reflected on his performance. He didn't regret how he did and he didn't regret the effort he'd put into practice. It wasn't enough in the end, but he'd done everything he possibly could.

He eventually pried himself off the wall and worked his shampoo through his hair, making sure to get out the chlorine. Part of him felt bad for being upset, since not many people even got the chance to compete, but he couldn't help it. Of course he was disappointed.

***

Daichi closed the door quietly, he wasn’t sure if Sugawara was asleep or not. He hesitated for a moment before shucking off his shirt and crawling into Suga’s bed. He wrapped his arms around Suga’s middle, tucking his face into the crook of his neck.

“What ‘er you--”

“It’s okay to be upset,” Daichi said softly, breathing in the comforting scent of Suga.

“‘m fine.”

“Don’t lie to me,” Daichi nuzzled against his neck. “You’re strong, but anyone would be upset about not advancing. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No, not really.”

“Okay,” Daichi moved one of his arms a bit, about to get up and move to his own bed. Sugawara grabbed it, putting it back where it was.

“Can we stay like this for a while?” Daichi softened, melting back into the bed and against Sugawara.

“What if someone comes in? Like with Yamaguchi and Tsukishima?”

“I don’t care. Sometimes a guy just wants to cuddle with his boyfriend.” Daichi laughed at the defiance in Suga’s tone.

“You are pretty hard to resist.”

***

**TUESDAY**

**Day’s Events:**

**100m free style heats + semifinals – Daichi and Asahi**

**200m breaststroke heats + semifinals – Tsukishima and Yamaguchi**

**200m butterfly finals – Kageyama**

**4 x 200m free relay heats + finals – Tanaka, Ennoshita, Asahi, and Kageyama**

***

Yamaguchi paced back and forth in the locker room. Tsukishima watched him lazily.

"Can you stop?" Tsukishima finally asked. "You're making me nauseous."

"Sorry, Tsukki," Yamaguchi murmured. Instead of pacing, he opted to fiddle with his goggles, which he was holding a touch too tightly.

"I thought you were over getting nervous about competition."

"I am, I mean, I was..." Yamaguchi sighed. "It's just that this is the Olympics, ya know?" Tsukishima did know, so he wasn't going to push it. He was nervous too, but he was better at hiding it.

They weren't in the same heat. Yamaguchi was two heats before Tsukishima. Tsukishima cupped the side of Yamaguchi's face, tipping his head back so he could meet his gaze.

"Good luck, I'll see you in the semifinals," Tsukishima said softly, pressing a ghost of a kiss to Yamaguchi's lips. The hint of contact made Yamaguchi's lips tingle. He wanted to kiss Tsukishima for real, but he'd take what he could get for now. He nodded and steeled himself to go out and swim his best.

Yamaguchi came out on top in his heat, and Tsukishima made it through to the semifinals as well. They would be swimming in the same semifinal round, but not in adjacent lanes. While Yamaguchi wasn't surprised by Tsukishima getting through, he was surprised that he also did.

Yamaguchi caught Tsukishima's eyes a few lanes over. Yamaguchi smiled, earning him a little smile and a peace sign from Tsukishima. Yamaguchi ignored the way his heart beat rapidly, crouching down, ready to jump.

Once they were in the water, it was their own little world. Yamaguchi couldn't see Tsukishima, but just knowing he was there, competing alongside him, was enough.

In the end, they both managed to make it past the semifinals. Yamaguchi finished just behind Tsukishima. He blinked at the scoreboard for a moment. Holy shit. Yamaguchi beamed as he and Tsukishima got themselves out of the pool and went to hit the showers.

Tsukishima had disappeared into a shower before Yamagichi even managed to get his locker open. He padded into the shower area, he scanned for an open shower, noticing the running water and glimpses of feet he could see under some of the curtains. He didn’t get very far before a hand grabbed his bicep and yanked him into one of the showers.

He yelped, but it was short lived before Tsukishima slapped a hand over his mouth.

“Shh, jeez--”

“Tsukki? What the heck?” Yamaguchi pouted slightly.

“What? My boyfriend just made it into the finals at the Olympics, am I not allowed to have a moment alone with him to celebrate?”

“In the shower?” Yamaguchi asked, a giggle lingering in the back of his throat. Tsukishima pushed his wet curls back out of his face.

“Yes, because you know our idiot teammates are going to be all over us once we leave the locker room.”

“Okay, okay, you win.” Yamaguchi laughed as Tsukishima rolled his eyes and kissed him.

***

Would Suga have loved to be down in the pool right now? Yes. Absolutely. He would have loved to make it into the finals to compete, but he didn’t. He refused to dwell on it. He made it to the Olympics, that was a huge accomplishment in itself. He had one more event to go, and until then he was going to cheer for his teammates.

Kageyama was like a fish. He was so fast and graceful. It was incredible to watch. Sugawara screamed as loud as he could, watching Kageyama push off the wall, heading for the other end of the pool. He was in the lead. Just a little further to go.

Sugawara latched onto Daichi excitedly as Kageyama hit the wall. _Yes_. Kageyama did it. He kept a steady lead throughout the race and he was taking gold. If Sugawara himself couldn’t do it, he was happy to see his teammate do it instead. He was proud of Kageyama.

***

“AAH!” Hinata jumped around the corner, trying to scare Kageyama, unfortunately the high-pitched scream actually came from Yamaguchi, who had been carrying a bowl of salad. Key word being had. The bowl shattered on the floor between them and the contents were now splattered on every surface in the immediate area. Salad dressing managed to splash halfway up the wall, with a few lettuce leaves and a tomato slice sticking in it momentarily before gravity took them down to join the other salad fixings Yamaguchi had been planning to eat for lunch.

Tanaka was cackling from the other side of the room, but Daichi, who was sitting on the couch by the doorway, was less impressed. The left half of his body had been in the splash zone and he was now wearing some of the salad along with Yamaguchi and Hinata. He gave Hinata a look as he wiped some stray dressing off his cheek.

Sugawara and Ennoshita walked in from one of the halls that connected the area to their rooms and froze, eyes scanning the mess.

“Um,” Sugawara looked at Daichi for answers, but he just shook his head. He was trying to remain calm and not yell at the two younger swimmers, not that Yamaguchi was really at fault here.

“I’m so sorry!” Hinata dropped to his knees and started picking up the shards of the ceramic bowl and a few pieces of lettuce.

“It’s okay,” Yamaguchi offered as he joined him in retrieving the sad remnants of his lunch. His cheeks were pink, both from being startled and embarrassed that he shrieked the way he had.

“I’ll go get a broom, or, uh,” Sugawara’s eyes lingered on the mess as he took a few steps back. “A mop, I guess.” Ennoshita was having trouble pulling his eyes away from the mess. Was there salad dressing on the ceiling?

Daichi sighed as he left the room, presumably to find a shower and remove the salad from his hair. Ennoshita was pretty sure there was a crouton stuck in there.

When Sugawara got back with the cleaning supplies, he had Yamaguchi and Hinata go get cleaned up while he and Ennoshita finished cleaning the mess the two had made. They mumbled their apologies while they shuffled out of the room to take their respective showers.

Yamaguchi was leaning against Tsukishima, the TV in the lounge playing one of the current events. A few people were paying attention, but others were taking amongst themselves or playing on their phone.

Tsukishima sucked in a deep breath and gave Yamaguchi a look.

“Why do you smell like Ranch dressing?” Tsukishima’s nose scrunched up while Yamaguchi’s cheeks shifted to a bright pink. Daichi snorted from the other couch, and Hinata bit his lower lip, giving Yamaguchi an apologetic smile from his position on the floor.

***

**WEDNESDAY**

**Day’s Events:**

**100m freestyle finals – Daichi and Asahi**

**200m backstroke heats + semifinals – Noya**

**200m breaststroke finals – Tsukishima and Yamaguchi**

***

During the 100m freestyle finals the times were incredibly close. Daichi was fractions of a second ahead of the swimmer in fourth, barely making it onto the podium. Asahi was less than a second slower than Daichi and missed the podium by a few places.

***

For the finals Yamaguchi and Tsukishima were side by side in their lanes. Where Yamaguchi had thought it might be distracting at first, he quickly put it out of his mind the second he hit the water and felt the adrenaline pumping through his veins.

He nearly forgot how large a stage he was on, competing at the Olympics, until his hand slapped against the wall and his head popped out of the water. He felt like he’d suddenly crash back to Earth, the sound of the crowd around him overwhelming. Tsukishima pulled off his swim cap beside him, exposing his flattened blonde curls. Yamaguchi could see his mouth moving, but he wasn’t registering anything Tsukishima was saying.

His eyes slowly panned over to the board where the times and placings were displayed. A wave of nausea washed over him when he saw the time beside his name. It was a personal best, and not only that, there was a number two beside his name as well. Second. Second place. Yamaguchi had just won a silver medal at the Olympics.

He was on autopilot as he found himself being gathered in Tsukishima’s arms. He didn’t even notice he’d been crying. Tsukishima held him, stroking his back, letting him cry, letting him work through the overwhelming emotions.

“Good job, Tadashi,” he whispered softly.

***

"Tsukki?" Yamaguchi asked softly, his ear was pressed against Tsukishima's chest as they laid in the darkness of their room.

"Hm?" Tsukishima was trying to sleep. He was exhausted.

"Are you upset?" The question surprised Tsukishima. His amber eyes popped open to look at Yamaguchi and his worried expression.

"About what?"

"Um," Yamaguchi's eyes pulled away from Tsukishima's. "About not medaling..." It had been eating away at Yamaguchi since their event.

"Tadashi," Tsukishima had a serious note to his voice that made Yamaguchi look back up to meet his eyes. "Why would I be upset about that? You're guilty about placing." It wasn't a question. Tsukishima could read Yamaguchi so easily. Tsukishima rubbed Yamaguchi's lower back, the action causing Yamaguchi's body to relax slightly. "Would I have liked to place, sure, but someone once asked what more I need than pride. I'm proud to have been able to compete at all. I qualified to compete in the Olympics and made it into the finals, for two different events." Tsukishima was pretty sure Yamaguchi stopped breathing when he mentioned the word pride. It had been Yamaguchi who asked him what more he needed than pride back in high school. "A lot of people will never get the chance to compete, but I did. A medal is nice, but the accomplishment is almost as good."

"Tsukki--"

"Besides, I don't mind losing to you." Tsukishima smiled, pressing his lips to Yamaguchi's forehead. "I'm proud of you, Tadashi," he whispered softly, brushing Yamaguchi's hair out of his face.

***

**THURSDAY**

**Day’s Events:**

**50m free style heats + semifinals – Daichi and Asahi**

**200m backstroke finals – Noya**

**100m butterfly heats + semifinals – Kageyama and Sugawara**

***

Noya took first once again. He beamed through the medal ceremony and was clearly getting antsy towards the end of it all. The second he was free he moved to throw himself into the pool again, but he was stopped by Ennoshita, who had managed to cut him off, snagging him by the collar of his warmups.

“Nope, not happening. If you track water through our living space again--”

***

“Oh,” Sugawara tilted his head slightly, looking at his time. “Oh,” he repeated. Realization dawning on him that he was moving onto the finals tomorrow. After failing so miserably at advancing in the 200m butterfly Sugawara had kept his expectations low for the 100m butterfly. His eyes found Daichi in the crowd. He smiled, maybe he could talk him into some celebratory cuddles this time.

***

“Noya, what is that?” Ennoshita cocked a brow at the bowl in Noya’s possession.

“Cereal,” Noya said nonchalantly, crunching away at it.

“Right, yeah, cereal.” Ennoshita leaned closer. “Isn’t that Suga’s?”

“Maybe,” Noya shrugged, shoveling in another spoonful.

“And you’re eating it with milk?”

“Mhm.”

“So not only are you eating _Suga’s_ cereal, which he might kill you for, you’re consuming dairy,” Ennoshita said slowly. Noya squinted at him.

“What’s your point?”

“You’re lactose intolerant!” Ennoshita threw his arms up, frustrated.

“Yeah, and?”

“Firstly, I feel bad for Asahi, who has to share a room with you tonight, second, you have an event tomorrow. You shouldn’t eat something you know is going to upset your stomach.” Noya shrugged again.

“It’ll be out of my system way before I have to swim, it’s fine.” Ennoshita’s nose wrinkled at the bridge.

“That’s disgusting.”

“Hey, you asked.”

***

**FRIDAY**

**Day’s Events:**

**50m free style finals – Daichi and Asahi**

**100m butterfly finals – Kageyama and Sugawara**

**4 x 100m medley relay heats – Noya, Hinata, Kageyama, and Daichi**

***

Daichi hugged Asahi firmly, patting him on the back. They shared a smile.

“Good luck out there."

"May the best man win," Daichi said with a light punch to Asahi's arm. They were competitors, but they were also teammates and more importantly, they were friends. Swimming the same stroke often meant they were competing.

Asahi came out on top, earning the gold. Daichi also made it to the podium in the bronze medal position. It was exciting to share the podium with one another.

***

Kageyama added yet another gold to his collection, while Sugawara fell behind and fell way short of the podium. He wasn't upset this time. He felt oddly content. Perhaps he was just satisfied with having proved himself worthy of competing in the finals.

***

Hinata shifted from foot to foot. His orange hair dripped onto his shirt.

"Why can't the finals just be today?" He whined. Noya nodded in agreement while Daichi gave them a look.

"Because there were other events. Kageyama and I both had other finals today, remember? Besides, it's getting late."

"Are you tired?" Hinata asked, looking up at Kageyama, who shrugged while yawning.

"No," Kageyama declared, despite looking tired.

“Just get some rest and be ready for the finals tomorrow. Let’s end the games on a high note,” Daichi smiled at his over-eager teammates. The medley relay lineup was definitely the most excitable, minus himself.

***

Sugawara groaned as Daichi nudged him awake. Suga tried to wave him off, rolling over and pulling his blanket over his head. Daichi grabbed a handful of the fabric and yanked it off him. Sugawara groaned again, grabbing for the blanket. He opened one of his eyes a crack when he couldn’t locate it. Daichi had thrown it onto his own bed, his arms crossed over his broad chest as he looked at Suga expectantly.

“What?” Suga finally asked, a whine in his voice.

“Do you hear it?”

“Hear what?” Sugawara was about to roll back over and bury his face into his pillow when cheers erupted. Daichi rose a brow and nodded towards the door. Suga rolled his eyes at the perfectly timed spike in the noise. “Can’t we just ignore it?”

“I’ve got a feeling our idiots are involved.”

“Are you their dad?” Suga asked as he sat up grumpily. Daichi didn’t acknowledge that comment as he tossed Sugawara a pair of pants. Suga rolled his eyes and tugged them on over his skimpy boxers.

Suga grabbed the first shirt he saw, which might have been Daichi’s, as they made their way to the hall that connected their space to the rooms and lounge areas of the other Olympic athletes. They were shocked to see as many people crowded in the hall as there was. Of course, their team members were near the front of the pack. Noya was on Tanaka’s back, both of them hooping and hollering, egging on the two men in the open space of the hall.

The most shocking part about this spectacle was that Tsukishima was one of the two men armed with a mattress standing in front of one half of the crowd. He was staring down Kageyama, who stood opposite him, also armed with a mattress. Yamaguchi was lingering near Tsukishima. He looked anxious, shifting from foot to foot with a lack of color in his face.

“Ready! Set! Fight!” Tanaka yelled. Before Daichi and Sugawara could process what they were seeing, Kageyama and Tsukishima were running at one another. Sugawara tucked his face against Daichi, afraid to see the impact of his two teammates. Rather than a loud thud, the sound that echoed through the hall was a chorus of cheers. Tsukishima and Kageyama managed to switch sides without taking one another out, but they were going at one another again. Tsukishima hit the wall as Kageyama slammed his mattress into Tsukishima’s. Tsukishima hit the wall pretty hard but didn’t get pinned. Kageyama stumbled, his mattress hitting the floor. Kageyama fell on top of it. Tsukishima smirked, taking the opportunity while he had it. He threw his mattress down on top of Kageyama. Tsukishima was named the victor.

“What the fuck is happening?” Sugawara whisper-yelled to Daichi over the cheering and groaning in response to the outcome of that round. His question would get answered later when he and Daichi questioned their team, but in the moment, he watched in horror as Hinata took his place in the hall, mattress in hand, and a big guy with white and black hair squared up opposite him.

He was huge compared to Hinata, Suga thought he might be a wrestler perhaps, but he also worried that Hinata was about to die at the hands of a big guy armed with a mattress. Daichi seemed to be on the same page.

“No, no, no, no,” Daichi walked into the open area, between the two mattresses and their handlers. “Absolutely not.” His eyes were fixed on Hinata, but he flicked a glare over towards Noya and Tanaka for good measure.

“Aw, come on!” The big guy yelled. “It’s all in good fun.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” Daichi sighed. “But I’d prefer we not break athletes before their events.” His tone was stern, staring down Hinata, who did at least look sheepish. The crowd booed as Hinata conceded. He apologized to his opponent and the mattress jousting was called off, since Noya and Tanaka were also about to be scolded for the ordeal, and it was their mattresses the athletes had been smashing into one another with.

***

**SATURDAY**

**Day’s Events:**

**4 x 100m medley relay finals – Noya, Hinata, Kageyama, and Daichi**

***

Daichi was the final swimmer in their medley relay. He was just a touch behind another competitor. Hinata and Noya were clinging to one another, screaming for Daichi to swim faster, while Kageyama anxiously bounced on the balls of his feet. It was close, Daichi was neck and neck with the other swimmer. Their hands hit the wall and all eyes snapped to the scoreboard.

0.3 of a second. That was all that separated gold from silver. Daichi had managed to edge out his competition in the end and secured yet another gold for Team Japan. Noya jumped into the pool to hug Daichi, dragging Hinata in with him. Hinata somehow also managed to snag Kageyama. Their whole relay team was back in the water, crowding Daichi’s lane, hugging him tightly.

***

"This is a terrible idea." Noya's voice held no concern as he grinned, shoving a few more things into his massive duffle bag. Tanaka had one too. They were both grinning at one another, knowing this was going to be one hell of a stunt.

"Yeah it is." Tanaka laughed. They had a few more bags. Quite a few. Tanaka looked at the room he shared with Ennoshita. There was a pile of crumpled up bags from the various stores they'd scavenged for this, plus all their luggage was now filled with their purchases. They needed to move faster. They needed to clear all this out before Ennoshita came in here and saw that they were up to something. Realization dawned on him. "We're going to need help."

The pair wasted no time in deciding who to enlist for their master plan. There weren't a ton of options on their team as it was, they would surely be scolded for even considering this by over half of them. Hinata. Hinata was their only option.

"Hey, we need your help!" Noya draped himself over the back of the chair Hinata was sitting in, interrupting the argument he was having with Kageyama. Hinata blinked, looking between the expressions on Tanaka and Noya's faces.

"With what?" Hinata asked slowly. Kageyama, across from him, was pouting. His arms crossed over his chest. He'd been winning the argument. Tanaka and Noya's grins grew. Noya whispered something in Hinata's ear.

"What?!" Hinata exclaimed, the alarm in Kageyama's face making him lower his voice to hiss, "we'd get in so much trouble!"

"Only if we get caught! And we won't," Tanaka claimed smugly. Kageyama's brows scrunched as he tried to figure out what it was they were talking about. His first thought would be that they were going to somehow cheat or give themselves an advantage in the Games, but all their events were over. He was at a loss.

"You really think we can pull that off?" Hinata was uncertain, but Tanaka and Noya nodded enthusiastically.

"It'll certainly make this Olympics memorable." Tanaka winked. One more moment of eye contact with Noya and Hinata found himself nodding.

"Okay..." he said hesitantly. "Okay, let's do it."

"We've gotta start now though," Tanaka stressed. Hinata sent a glance in Kageyama's direction. He offered him a shrug and stood to follow Tanaka and Noya, surprised to see Kageyama follow them.

"What are you doing?" Hinata questioned.

"What can you possibly help them with that I couldn't?" Kageyama challenged. They clearly weren't over the argument they had been having earlier.

Neither Noya or Tanaka seemed bothered by Kageyama tagging along as they led the pair to Ennoshita and Tanaka's room. They each loaded up with some bags, as many as they could carry, and headed out. Kageyama continued to try to figure out what they were up to, too stubborn to ask.

The pool was familiar to them now, each having competed each of their events over the past week. Though the lights were off, as the facility was not being used for the remainder of the day. It was the perfect time to do this. It had been surprisingly easy to get into the building.

“We may not have enough for this,” Tanaka laughed, taking in the sheer size of the pool.

“Probably not, but it’s worth a shot anyway.” Noya dropped his bags and was already kneeling to get things out.

“Enough of what?” Kageyama asked, dropping the bags they’d given him. He unzipped what appeared to be Ennoshita’s duffle, and blinked at the packages of jell-o packed into it. “What--” he looked over to see that everyone else’s bags were packed full of jell-o too.

“We’re making a jell-o pool,” Noya explained, grinning widely in the darkened area. Kayeyama looked at Hinata, who shrugged. They got to work. Tanaka and Noya had cleared out a few different stores of their jell-o and/or gelatine. There were a handful of different colors from various flavors. It took maybe an hour for them to finally clear out all the packages they’d brought.

Hinata and Kageyama watched the swirling colors, which were mostly concentrated on the sides they’d been pouring it in. Hinata was about to ask if they were just leaving it like this, when he got hit in the face by fabric. It was Tanaka’s shirt. Tanaka and Noya were stripping down to their boxers.

“What are you--”

Splash. They disappeared into the water, the color spreading from the force of their respective splashes. Noya’s head popped back up first, Tanaka not far behind.

“You two getting in?” Noya asked. “We’ve got to stir it somehow.”

There was only a moment of hesitation before they stripped down as well and joined their teammates in the pool. They spent some time just messing around. Eventually all the water was a reddish shade of purple.

After hitting the showers, they went back to the village. Ennoshita questioned where they’d been, but they managed to avoid admitting that they’d just dumped a ton of gelatin into the pool. They called it a night. Would the jell-o set? Probably not, but they’d at least dyed and flavored the pool, and that was good enough for them.

***

**SUNDAY**

**Day’s Events: none**

***

“Yeah, the whole pool was like snotty and purple.” Yamaguchi was explaining to Sugawara. He and Tsukishima had been going over to watch a friend in water polo, but they had to postpone all the water polo matches in order to drain, clean, and refill the pool.

“Snotty?” Suga asked, sipping his coffee, nose wrinkling at the description.

“It was like... “ Yamaguchi looked to Tsukishima for help.

“Snot-like, gooey, liquid but also lumpy,” Tsukishima shrugged.

“Gross, how does that even happen? You said it was purple?” Sugawara rose a brow. Ennoshita, who was lingering nearby, listening, sent a look towards the couch where Tanaka and Noya were watching another event with Asahi. Hinata and Kageyama chose that moment to join them, bickering about something.

“Whatcha talkin’ about?” Hinata sat down after snagging a banana from the counter.

“The main pool was filled with some sort of purple goo. They had to postpone the water polo matches,” Yamaguchi explained. Hinata’s eyes widened, paling a bit as he looked over to Kageyama. He’d forgotten that other sports used the main pool. All of the swimming events were over and events like diving were held in another location, but he’d forgotten all about water polo.

“You two wouldn’t happen to know anything about that, would you?” Ennoshita asked, taking note of the way Hinata reacted. Hinata shook his head.

“Nope, not a thing,” he said too quickly, getting up and grabbing Kageyama’s wrist and dragging him out of the kitchen. “Gotta go!” Hinata called over his shoulder, Kageyama yelling at him for yanking him away. He was still holding the half full carton of milk.

“Do you think…?” Yamaguchi looked between Suga and Ennoshita.

“For sure,” Sugawara confirmed. They knew something.

***

To celebrate the team’s victories, they were out to dinner together. Of course, that was loud and chaotic, but it was fun. The team got along well and they had become close friends after training together the past few months. It was bitter sweet to think that their time together was coming to an end.

Daichi may or may not have chewed out a certain few teammates for a snotty jell-o filled pool. Even without Hinata and Kageyama’s incredibly obvious give away, Daichi had a feeling that Noya and Tanaka were involved when he heard about it.

Despite the shenanigans, the team had had a successful bout at the Olympic games. Of the ten swimmers on the team, eight were walking away with medals, many of them with a few medals. Team Japan had a lot to be proud of.

**Author's Note:**

> Please check out the artwork that pairs with this piece from doodledrawsart on Tumblr and _doodledraw on Instagram! I had a lot of fun working with her on this piece for the HQ Olympic bang!  
> Tumblr: https://doodledrawsart.tumblr.com/post/625995724646170624/heres-one-of-my-pieces-for-the-olympicsbang-i   
> Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/CDrYXtfgj_Y/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link 
> 
> Fun fact: I matched each character to an irl swimmer from team US at the 2016 games in Rio to decide on the medals everyone earned! Also, mattress jousting is something I learned about from my high school english teacher. It was something he did in college xD https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0G_tYd5sDU&t=134s


End file.
